Survey shows city divided on deer

Results of a deer survey issued by the city show the city is divided in regards to how it should approach the deer living in Green River.

Police Chief and Interim City Administrator Chris Steffen said residents returned 1,064 surveys of a total 4,300 sent out in the September water bill.

The survey contained five yes and no questions, while also giving residents a chance to voice their opinions about what should be done with the deer.

According to the results, residents are split on a number of questions. The first, asking if deer are a problem within the city generated 511 no responses and 552 yes responses. A question asking if residents believe deer should be managed resulted in a closer split, with 467 responders believing they are while 481 disagreed.

When asking residents if they use a deterring method to keep deer off their property, 515 responded yes while 517 responded no.

Other questions weren’t so closely split, but showed disagreement amongst responders as well. A question asking residents if select female deer should be culled resulted in 425 people responding yes while 475 disagreed.

Steffen said he believes misunderstanding in regards to what they meant by culling deer may have skewed responses.

In this case, a culling program would focus around the city having female deer killed to control the population.

One question that resulted in giving the group an idea of how the deer have impacted some residents asked if they’re experienced damage as a result of deer.

According to Steffen, 571 residents responded they had experienced deer-related damage while 484 did not.

Steffen said the group received a lot of feedback in regards to what residents were doing to protect their property from deer.

Some common themes involved the use of liquid fencing, netting and tubing to deter deer from wandering onto a property.

“A lot of folks around town are utilizing this with some success,” Steffen said.

He also said he’s aware of some residents using electric fencing to keep deer out as well. He warned that while electric fencing isn’t against city ordinance, it does come with accepting liability if someone were injured by it.

“People need to be cautious of that,” Steffen said.

Other suggestions about managing the deer population involved the use of deer repellents, finding plants deer won’t eat, educating residents about the deer and posting signs warning drivers of possible deer crossings on streets near area deer are known to frequent.

Steffen said if homeowners are serious about keeping deer out of their gardens and flowerbeds, the best solution for them may be to fence their property, saying that fencing deer and other nuisance animals is part of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s management philosophy.

“The State of Wyoming is a fence out state. If you don’t want animals in your yard, fence them out,” Steffen said.